This invention relates generally to an electrical connector and, more particularly, to an electrical connector embodying means for indicating when the two connector members of the connector are fully mated together.
An electrical connector comprises plug and receptacle connector members each including a shell containing an insulator. A plurality of pairs of axially aligned contacts are mounted in the respective insulators in the two connector members. In many applications, it is necessary to provide an interfacial seal on one of the insulators to assure that a complete sealing condition is established for each mated pair of contacts when the two connector members are interengaged. Also, typically a peripheral seal is provided in one of the connector shells engageable by the shell of the other connector member to prevent the intrusion of dust or moisture into the interior of the connector. Also, a coupling nut is mounted on the plug connector member for interengaging the two members, bringing the contacts of each pair of contacts into electrically coupled condition, and establishing the interfacial and peripheral sealing conditions in the connector. Generally, the contacts in the connector members are removably mounted therein so that they may be replaced in the field. Becuase of the use of such a contact mounting arrangement, and the large number of parts in an electrical connector, there is a large buildup of manufacturing tolerances which must be maintained to insure that all contacts are fully electrically coupled together, that the interfacial and peripheral seals are established, and that the coupling nut is in its fully coupled position. When manufacturing tolerances are not met, there is generally no way of determining whether or not all the aforementioned conditions have been established when two electrical connector members are coupled together. This may become a considerable problem in electronic systems utilizing a large number of connectors since there is no way of determining which connector in the system is not fully operational if the system fails. Furthermore, it is often desirable to know in advance whether all the connectors are functional. It is the object of the present invention to provide an electrical connector which incorporates electrical means for giving a signal when the connector is fully coupled together, thus enabling the operator to determine which line in the electronic system is not operable. Another object of the invention is to provide an electrical connector which produces either an audio or tactile indication, or both, of the full mating of the connector members so that the mated condition can be determined by the operator even in blind mating situations, that is, where the operator cannot visually observe whether the connector members are fully interengaged.